Exposure to toxic agents, and especially chemical warfare agents and related toxins, is a potential hazard to the armed forces and to civilian populations. Chemical warfare agents are stockpiled by several nations, and other nations and terrorist groups actively seek to acquire these materials. Some commonly known chemical warfare agents are bis-(2-chloroethyl)sulfide, also known as HD or mustard gas, pinacolyl methylphosphonofluoridate, which is also known as Soman or GD, and O-ethyl S-(2-diisopropylamino)ethyl methylphosphonothiolate, known as VX. Both HD and GD are also known to be available in both neat and thickened forms. As will be appreciated, it is essential to have agents which can rapidly decontaminate surfaces which have come into contact with these chemical warfare agents, not only in battlefield situations, but also in today's climate of terrorist threats of WMD chemical attacks.
Methods for decontamination of chemical agents, which include a variety of organophosphorous and organosulfur compounds, are known in the art. However, these known methods use compositions that have many drawbacks and undesirable properties, such as corrosiveness, flammability and toxicity. For example, hypochlorite formulations are very corrosive and toxic. These solutions are not optimal for use in treating civilians or like populations that do not have protective clothing or training in decontaminating themselves and equipment with such solutions. Additionally, many decontamination agents degrade upon exposure to water and carbon dioxide, requiring that these solutions be prepared and used the same day they are needed. Such solutions are not particularly suited for surprise situations such as terrorist attacks. Local fire departments cannot stockpile these types of solutions for use in a future unknown and unsuspected terrorist attack. Additional drawbacks with prior art decontamination agents include things such as the need for substantial scrubbing for removal and destruction of a chemical warfare agents when using decontaminates such as hypochlorite solutions. The provision of personnel and training to aid civilians in proper scrubbing when using these decontaminants is currently not feasible.
The foregoing underscores some of the problems associated with convention decontamination agents and their role in the fight against terrorism. Furthermore, the foregoing highlights the need for a stable composition which can effectively decontaminate chemical agents without the undesirable properties or excessive scrubbing described above.